


Quiet Moments

by RJMeta



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Allowing yourself to grieve, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 17:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17472014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RJMeta/pseuds/RJMeta
Summary: The night may be for saying things you wouldn't say in the daylight, but sunset is when you can finally let yourself be.





	Quiet Moments

**Author's Note:**

> I made myself cry writing this, but it was cathartic as fuck so I'm impulse-posting.
> 
> Set in a nebulous time before facing Thordak but after facing Ripley.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Hmm?"

Percy’s head snapped up, eyes flicking over to the gnome stood a little ways to his right. Pike watched him, a small smile on her lips. He blinked for a second.

"Sorry, I was miles away. What did you say?"

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"Oh! No, not at all, please."

One hand gestured to the space on the ledge next to him and she sat, her tiny legs swinging against the stone. For a few moments, they sat quietly, watching the sun set over the city of Whitestone. It was Pike who broke the silence.

"Hard to believe this place was once a ghost town. I guess it must have looked a lot like this before everything, huh?"

Percy chuckled slightly, a small smile teasing the corners of his lips upward.

"Yes. Whitestone was never as big as say... Emon, or Ank'harel, but it had a decent-sized population. I'd estimate that now, what with all the refugees and such, we're close to that original number."

Pike hummed quietly.

"Must be nice to see this again."

Percy nodded, the smile slipping to a look of bittersweet bliss.

"I never thought I'd ever be able to. Once my revenge was achieved, I figured I'd either be dead or destroying my work. Things... have turned out quite well for me."

There was another few moments of silence.

"Percy... are you alright?"

He glanced at her in confusion, noting the softly concerned expression on her face.

"Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"

"You're crying."

Blinking, he swiped a hand under his eye, looking at the moisture on his fingertips in surprise.

“So I am.”

Standing and reaching over, Pike placed a hand on his shoulder, tugging him slightly closer until she could wrap him into a hug.

“It’s okay to not be okay, you know. I’m here if you need me to be.”

Something inside his chest broke then. Before he realised it, he was sobbing into her hair, fingers coming up to curl into the back of her robes like a drowning man clutching a piece of driftwood. They stayed like this for a good while, the sun slowly sinking behind them. Eventually, though, his sobs slowed into sniffles and shuddering breaths.

“Sorry. Sorry.”

She gently brushed his cheeks, wiping away the remaining moisture.

“It’s okay to cry, Percy. We have time.”

He took a shivering breath, removing his glasses to wipe them clean with shaking hands.

“I… I think I still miss them. I don’t know why, they’ve been gone so long, I just--”

She took his hands, holding them in her much smaller ones.

“You haven’t let yourself grieve. You haven’t had the time. But now you have time, and the realisation is coming crashing down. It’s okay, that’s normal. It’s normal to grieve even after the person’s been gone for a lifetime. Just don’t let the grief consume you, okay? Ask for help, if you need it.”

A wet chuckle slipped from him, a tiny smile hiding on the edges of his lips.

“So wise. The wisest of us, aside from possibly Keyleth.”

This drew a chuckle from her too. There was a soft silence between them for a few moments as he cleaned his glasses and replaced them on his face before looking her in the eye.

“Thank you.”

She smiled at him, reaching up to adjust his glasses.

“You’re so very welcome.”


End file.
